


Sick as a Dog

by mypoorfaves



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Caretaking, Fluff, Food Poisoning, M/M, Sick Yuuri, Sickfic, because dogs are the best medicine :), mentions of dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 12:17:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13880709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mypoorfaves/pseuds/mypoorfaves
Summary: Victor can’t help but feel somewhat guilty for their current predicament. It was his idea they go out to eat, after all. If they had gone straight to the hotel and had a night in, had ordered room service, maybe this could have all been avoided. Maybe then Yuuri wouldn’t be feeling so miserable right now, unable to eat anything for fear of bringing it up again.～Yuuri gets food poisoning, and Victor looks after him. Set after episode 7.





	Sick as a Dog

**Author's Note:**

> I saw [this tweet](https://twitter.com/AmazingPhil/status/968238071769714689?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E3) and imagined Victor doing something like that for a sick Yuuri.
> 
> Should be pretty obvious, but just in case, here’s a warning that **this fic contains nausea and emeto.**

After the cup of China, the night of the free skate, Victor had taken Yuuri out to a restaurant to celebrate.

“You said you try not to eat raw foods _before_ competition, but there’s nothing stopping you after, is there?” Victor had chirped with a heart-shaped smile.

Yuuri didn’t refuse, for which Victor was grateful. After the past couple of days, Yuuri definitely deserved a reward for all of the stress he was forced to deal with: his first competition to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, the weight of having his home country rooting for him to take gold, every other country hating him for taking Victor away from the world and becoming Yuuri’s coach, and Yuuri’s mental breakdown when Victor threatened to end that very arrangement. It had been a whirlwind of emotion, all ending with a silver medal around Yuuri’s neck and Victor’s lips on his.

So what better way to celebrate and unwind than with dinner?

It had been fun. The company was nice, the drinks were great, and the food was good.

They had gotten back to the hotel late that night and collapsed into bed, exhausted after a long day. Not a couple hours later, Victor had woken up to the horrible sound of retching coming from the bathroom.

It seemed the food had only been good for Victor, as Yuuri had gotten food poisoning.

The hours after that passed by slowly and consisted of Yuuri laying with his head in Victor’s lap as they camped out on the bathroom floor, save for the moments when Yuuri bolted upright to empty the contents of his stomach into the toilet as Victor rubbed soothing circles on his back.

Now, they have finally moved back to the bed, though a trash can remains close by, ready to be equipped at a moment’s notice. Yuuri lays on his back, a hand resting over his stomach. His eyes are closed though he remains awake, this made evident by the pain marring his features and the quiet moans that occasionally slip past his lips. Victor sits with him, his fingers idly brushing back Yuuri’s bangs.

Victor can’t help but feel somewhat guilty for their current predicament. It was his idea they go out to eat, after all. If they had gone straight to the hotel and had a night in, had ordered room service, maybe this could have all been avoided. Maybe then Yuuri wouldn’t be feeling so miserable right now, unable to eat anything for fear of bringing it up again.

Maybe he should try and coax Yuuri into eating again. Just something small. He doesn’t like seeing the young skater so sick, but having him malnourished on top of everything isn’t ideal either.

“Yuuri?” Victor tries tentatively. “Do you think maybe you could tryー”

“Not eating,” Yuuri cuts him off before he’s even finished speaking. “Not drinking either,” he adds right before Victor is about to ask.

Victor doesn’t relent. “Not even water?” Yuuri just shakes his head. “What about some ginger ale? It might help your stomach.” Another head shake, and a wince paired with a quiet moan. “I don’t want you getting dehydrated. Please, just something.”

“It’ll make me sick,” Yuuri weakly protests. “Don’t want to.”

He doesn’t push the issue further. Victor doesn’t think he’s ever seen Yuuri this sick before. He’s seen him once or twice with a bad cold, but nothing like this. Never this miserable, hardly even making a sound (save for when his stomach acts up), unwilling to move or even eat or drink.

Victor concedes with a deep and tired sigh. “I’m sorry you’re so sick. If only we hadn’t gone out…”

“No, don’t say that,” Yuuri says. “It’s not your fault the food didn’t sit well with me. And I did enjoy it while we were out. It was really nice.” He gives Victor a weak but reassuring smile. “Though I think I would have preferred katsudon. Especially now.” His smile suddenly falters as he groans again. The hand splayed over his stomach fists tightly in his shirt, and he brings his other hand up to cover his mouth, as if sickened by the mere thought of food. Victor practically lunges for the trash can, but after a brief moment, Yuuri lowers the hand from his mouth and the hand bunched in his shirt relaxes. “Okay, maybe not right now,” Yuuri amends, and Victor would laugh if not for how pale Yuuri’s face is. “God, my stomach hurts so bad.”

“Maybe throwing up will help?” Victor suggests.

“It’s more my stomach muscles than anything,” he moans.

Moments pass, and it becomes clear that Yuuri isn’t going to be sick, so Victor sets the trash can back down, keeping it close by in case of an emergency.

“Thank you for staying with me,” Yuuri says, his tired eyes meeting Victor’s in the dim light of their shared hotel room. “You’re taking such good care of me, even though I’m probably no fun to be around right now.”

“The way I see it, if I feel bad watching it, then I’m sure you feel even worse experiencing it.” That same small weak smile from before graces Yuuri’s lips, and Victor treasures it deeply. “I just want you to feel better,” Victor says, and he really means it. He hopes Yuuri knows just how much he cares for him. His heart breaks seeing Yuuri like this, so helpless and in pain. Victor wishes he could just take it all away. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“You being here is helping a lot,” Yuuri admits. “You’re taking my mind off of how bad I feel.”

Victor feels his heart warm at that. “I’m glad.”

“You shouldー” Yuuri pauses, closes his eyes, swallows hard and breathes through his nose. “Keep on talking to me.”

“What about?”

“I don’t know,” Yuuri huffs in frustration. “Tell me a story, or something? Anything?” He swallows again, and Victor debates getting the trash can again. “Please? Just distract me.”

“Alright,” Victor complies. “A story then.” He rifles through his brain to pick out a good one, one that would interest Yuuri and ease his pain, even just slightly.

“When I was a boy, on my thirteenth birthday, I got Makkachin as a gift from my parents,” Victor tells him, deciding that dogs are a safe and fun topic. “I had always wanted a dog. I remember reading book after book, learning all about how to care for them, trying to decide which breed I wanted the most.” As he talks, he gently places a hand over Yuuri’s where it’s draped over his sensitive stomach. “Is this okay?” he asks, moving Yuuri’s hand out of the way to replace it with his own. Yuuri lets him, giving a short nod in response. Victor hikes the shirt up, and very carefully rests his hand over Yuuri’s bare stomach. He keeps his touch feather-light and pets it gently in the hopes it will help ease the soreness. When he gets no negative response, he keeps doing it.

“I had read that poodles make the best companions. I remember running to my mom, holding up the book and pointing at the picture. ‘I want this one!’ I told her. ‘It says right here poodles make the best friends! I want a best friend!’” He pauses in his story, wondering if Yuuri will comment on him wanting a best friend so desperately, but Yuuri remains silent, his eyes closed, his breathing carefully controlled. “And so,” Victor continues, “after much begging and pleading, and promising to always feed her and take her for walks and clean up after her, I got Makkachin. My best friend.” He smiles at the memory. Yuuri doesn’t smile, his face is still tensely drawn, his eyebrows knitted together.

“We had lots of good times together, her and I,” Victor goes on as he continues to pet Yuuri’s stomach. “I’ll never forget one of the first times I gave her a bath. We had just gone for a walk in the rain, and she just _had_ to go jumping into this big muddy puddle. Makkachin loves the rain, more than she loves snow, even. It took hours to get her clean, and then a couple more to clean up the mess sheーwell, _we,_ I supposeーhad made in the bathroom.”

Yuuri laughs at that. It’s really just a short and sharp exhale, but Victor can tell. He gives Yuuri a sympathetic smile. He’s still in pain, his stomach still undoubtedly sensitive and sore, but at least it has quieted down. Victor remembers being in the bathroom with Yuuri, hours ago, able to hear the violent churning get worse and worse before it got to be too much, leaving Yuuri bent over with tears in the corners of his eyes and his whole body trembling.

He allows himself the luxury of thinking maybe, just maybe they’re past the worst of this. But then another moan escapes Yuuri’s lips. “Fuck, I feel really sick again,” he says, and there’s an urgency to his voice that Victor has become very familiar with over the past couple of hours. He pushes himself up to his elbows. “Victor, I needー” His voice is pained, his eyes are panicked, and Victor is already reaching over the bed and onto the floor.

He holds the bin for Yuuri as his stomach lurches. Victor’s own stomach clenches in sympathy at the sight and sound. Yuuri breathes in short and ragged pants between waves of nausea, and Victor is helpless to do much more than rub Yuuri’s back in wide circles to comfort him. Tears bead at the corner of eyes squeezed shut, and then run hot down his cheeks as his stomach heaves again.

“Oh, Yuuri…” Victor brushes his hair back from his face. The strands aren’t long enough to get in the way, but he hopes the gesture is soothing. He doesn’t say anything else, but gently shushes Yuuri when he whimpers and sniffles.

Victor takes the trash can away once Yuuri makes it clear he’s done with it. He disposes of the waste and returns with a fresh glass of water. Yuuri shakes his head when he sees Victor holding it. “Just a sip. For the aftertaste,” he coaxes, and Yuuri very slowly, very hesitantly, takes the smallest sip Victor has ever seen anyone take in his entire life.

He cleans up Yuuri’s tear-stained cheeks with a tissue, wiping around his mouth as well. He gets an extra tissue for Yuuri’s nose too. Then he eases Yuuri so he’s lying back down. He looks paler than before, which is saying something. His whole body is shaking despite not having a fever. It must be from the exertion. Victor fixes the blanket so it’s pulled up to his chin.

Yuuri’s weak and shaky voice breaks the silence. “Can you keep talking to me?”

“You still want to hear?” He would much rather Yuuri try and get some rest, exhausted as he must be, but if talking will make Yuuri feel better then Victor will do anything.

Yuuri nods slowly. “I love hearing about Makkachin. Makes me think of the dog I had…” Victor bittersweetly remembers back to the small makeshift shrine he had seen at the inn. “I named him Victor, after you,” Yuuri confesses, much to Victor’s surprise. He had learnt this particular piece of information from Yuuri’s family, but to hear Yuuri come out and say it so openly is such a display of trust.

“I bet if Makka were here, she would give you plenty of cuddles and kisses until you’re all better,” Victor says. And then an idea forms in his brain. He may not be able to get Makkachin here to cheer Yuuri up, but…

He pulls out his phone, quickly composes a tweet and posts it, then puts the device away.

“What was that?” Yuuri asks curiously.

“You’ll find out later,” Victor promises. He takes up his spot next to Yuuri and holds him close, as if using the affection to try and intimidate the nausea still plaguing Yuuri.

“You know, they always talk about how poodles make such great companions. But they never tell you what that means when you’re forced to be apart,” Victor comments with a fond kind of annoyance. “Whenever I had to travel for competitions, Makkachin would curl up outside of my bedroom door and sleep there, waiting for me to come back. She would whine and howl and cry all through the night. My parents got so fed up, they called me on facetime so I could talk to her and calm her down.”

“Vicchan was like that too,” Yuuri pipes up. “He would get so lonely, he would always scratch at Mari’s door and want to sleep on her bed whenever I was away. He loved everyone in my family, but it always made him happier to see my face, even if just through a screen.”

They exchange stories like that for the next little while. Victor talks about the time he brought Makkachin to the rink and tried to fit skates on her paws so they could do a routine together. Yakov, predicably, was not amused. Yuuri in turn tells Victor about how he once snuck Vicchan into the hot springs, which is very strictly against the rules. His mother may not have been happy, but Yuuri and Vicchan certainly were.

After some time, Victor reaches for his phone again, opening it up to twitter before handing the device over to the sick skater. Yuuri looks at Victor curiously for an explanation, but Victor doesn’t provide one. Instead, he settles beside Yuuri and angles the phone so they can both see.

On the screen is a tweet that reads as follows:

Yuuri manages a weak laugh at that, then thumbs through the replies.

There are many comments below the tweet, all with wishes of a speedy recovery. And of course, as per requests, there are gifs. The first consists of a bunch of poodlesーthe fancy french kind, as Victor likes to call themーdressed up for an aerobics class and marching on two legs. Another gif has a dog dangling a large slice of pizza in its mouth, trying and failing to eat it as it lacks hands and opposable thumbs. Much to Victor’s relief, the sight of food doesn’t immediately sicken Yuuri. Instead, he keeps on scrolling, a faint smile on his lips.

There’s a gif of a corgi with its tongue out, some animated hearts flashing all around it. A shiba inu, stomping the sadness away. A dog with his cheeks being playfully squished, the same way Victor had done to Makkachin before they left Hasetsu. Another corgi, this time relaxing in a field of flowers. “Just imagine you’re in this field of flowers with this doggo and you’ll be okay,” the caption on that one reads. The list goes on.

“Thank you, Victor. It’s nice to know that people care about me so much,” Yuuri says, and Victor knows from the way Yuuri’s eyes meet his, with such intense thankfulness, that he is not just referring to his illness. “Seeing the cute dogs, hearing you talk about Makka, having you here with me… it really helps.”

Yuuri’s complexion is already improving, and while the smile on his lips isn’t as full and bright as Victor is used to seeing, it’s slowly getting there. It seems that Yuuri really is making an improvement. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” Victor says.

“I am. In fact… I’ll have a bit of ginger ale? If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Never too much when it comes to you,” Victor is quick to reply.

The sip Yuuri takes from the glass Victor gives him is small, understandably hesitant, but he drinks more of the ginger ale than he did of the water. Victor hopes it will help to quell his nausea. With how much Yuuri has thrown up, Victor still has half a mind to take Yuuri to a hospital. But if Yuuri’s condition has improved enough to suggest drinking something on his own, then perhaps he really has turned a corner.

“I think I’m gonna try and sleep some more,” Yuuri says, his eyes already drooping as he eases himself back down. “Stay with me?”

“Of course.” The response is second nature. “You don’t even have to ask.” He tucks Yuuri in, making sure he is comfortable and has everything he needs, then climbs in the bed beside him. “I hope you feel better, Yuuri,” Victor murmurs as he holds Yuuri close. Before he can convince himself not to, he places a kiss on his head. “Get some rest.” It doesn’t take long after that for the room to become filled with the soft sound of Yuuri’s breathing, deep and even with sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Drop a kudos and leave a comment if you liked this!


End file.
